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Developing a winning freestyle performance is much more than simply matching music to your horse.
For many dressage enthusiasts, the highlight of the sport is watching a brilliant rider guiding an elegant and powerful horse through a meticulously rehearsed freestyle test. Arguably, the best—and most successful—freestyles allow the horse and rider to shine brightest and creatively amplify their personalities and strong points through music.
Terry Gallo, of Klassic Kur, Karen Robinson, of Applause Dressage, and Marlene Whitaker, of Custom Freestyles Inc., all understand this philosophy and work toward this goal. They produce freestyle anthologies to enhance the strengths of each horse and rider, and, to them, it’s a narrative beyond a simple competition.
But it wouldn’t exactly be a stretch to say “freestyle producer” is an uncommon vocation. These professionals found their calling through combining their own passions and putting themselves in the right places at the right times.
Following Their Instincts
Whitaker rode hunters for 25 years before showing up for her first dressage lesson in 1991. There she glimpsed Lynn Leath schooling a Grand Prix freestyle. It was the first time she’d seen music matched with a horse, and it became the spark of a calling that would soon strike her most profoundly.
“A few weeks later, I saw Carol Lavell ride Gifted’s Robin Hood kur at the Washington International Horse Show [D.C.]. I cried and knew I was hooked forever,” she said.
She created her own amateur freestyle a few years later and was shocked by how well audiences and riders alike received the performance. An impressed Jessica Ransehousen, international dressage rider and judge, later asked Whitaker to produce a Grand Prix freestyle for her.
“I never really intended to have a full-time business doing it,” Whitaker admitted, “but it’s become the tail wagging the dog trying to keep up with demand.
“One could say I never really took the leap,” she added, “but rather rolled down the hill. I never charged clients for the mistakes or experimenting I did. Any profits were turned back into the business to buy better equipment.”
Likewise, Robinson also got a taste of the freestyle in the early 1990s after watching a demonstration at the Burghley Horse Trials (England). The Grand Prix freestyle thoroughly fascinated her.
| Maintaining Momentum Reviewing previous works can typically nip creative blocks in the bud, but freestyle producers Karen Robinson, Terry Gallo and Marlene Whitaker note that patience and organization are simple and important remedies. While they’re responsible for thousands and thousands of musical tracks ranging from Frank Sinatra to Fifty Cent, the key to maintaining sanity among those expansive libraries is order. |
